Improvement in construction of buildings



THDMAS W. H. MOS ELEY. improvement in Construction of Buildings. 510,118,332, Patehted Aug. 22,1871.

WITNESSES. I INVENZ/OR.

Val am I UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIOE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,382, dated August 22, 1871.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. H. MOSELEY, of Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful Improvement in the the Construction of Buildin gs, of which the tollowing is a specification:

My invention relates to a composite house, the walls and gables being made up of planking, with interstices filled with grouting, plastering, or composition. The invention consists in constructing the body of the walls of a building with planking or boards laid horizontally one on another, secured together as hereinafter described, and separated by strips, leaving spaces between for the reception of plaster, which is applied on both sides, and may meet in the center between the boards. The invention further consists in a mode of securing the joists to the walls and employing the former to tie the latter together. The invention further consists in a mode of uniting the flooring-boards to the walls, and tying the latter by the means of said boards in a direction transverse to the boards. The invention further consists in a mode of forming cornices and gutters in connection with a composite house constructed as herein set forth. The invention further consists in a mode of forming quoins or corners by molding, as hereinafter described.

. The invention further consists in a mode of supporting, connecting, and bracing the wall-plates, ridge-pole, and gables, constructed and applied as hereinafter described.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a partly-fin ished building illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof at as :20, Figs. 1 and Fig. 3 is avertical section thereof atyy, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a mold used for forming the quoins or corners. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a mold used for forming the corners of cornices. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a mold employed for forming the other parts of cornices.

My improved buildings are erected on such foimdations as other houses are. If on posts or blocks, I first use a two or three-inch plank, placed on top of the blocks or posts all around, some two or three inches wider than the first course of boards composing the main body of This projecting plank is intended These broad planks may take the place of stone or other masonry foundations. On these planks, or on the masonry foundations, (if employed,) I place boards B, laid longitudinally and transversely, so as to form the outline of the ground plan of the building. I ordinarily use one-inch boards for this purpose, but the thickness may be varied to suit the requirements of the particular case. On this first course of boards are laid transverse strips or blocks 0, usually of the same thickness as the boards B, but in some cases thicker, this depending upon the quantity of mortar which it is intended to use. The strips or blocks 0 are in length about equal to the width of the boards B about four to six inches in width, and are placed usually about two feet apart. These are designed to keep the successive layers of boards apart, and keep them at a true level, and also to support the pressure of the joists D and superstructure. These alternate courses of boards and blocks are carried up, as represented in the drawing, to the height of the intended building. At the corners of the rooms in the building the strips are dispensed with, each board alternating with or lapping over the other below. All the walls and partitions of the building are made alike, and in the above-described manner, the partitions being so interlocked as to bind the outer walls and keep them true in line. The boards and blocks composing the alternate courses aresecurely nailed together as the work progresses. The width of the boards of which the building is composed is governed by the height or number of stories required. Those of the upper story are usually four inches in width, though if a more massive and heavy building is required they may be of any suitable corresponding width. For illustration, assuming the boards of the top story are four inches in width, those of the next story below will be six inches wide, and of the next below this eight inches, and so on, increasing in width by two inches in each story descending. These offsets of two inches in each story are suffieient to give rest and support to the floor joists. At every space in the main wall where a joist is located strips at (say a foot in length) are partly inserted between the boards B and firmly nailed thereto and also to the joists D. This assists in tying the walls, and also makes the joists more firm and stable. The flooring L is laid on the joists D, the ends of the same passing between the interspaces in the walls and being firmly nailed thereto. This construction also greatly assists in tying and strengthening the walls, the partitions, joists, and flooring thus all contributing to secure the wall against any tendency to spring inward or outward. The gables B, rising above the walls, are deprived of the tie or band, 'which in the walls below is secured by the union of their corners. To compensate for this, and keep the gables in a true line, they are sustained by girders E, made up of two or more boards, separated by the strips or blocks, as in the wall. These girders are strongly united to each other at the top or ridge-pole M, and also to the walls at bottom, thus constituting a sure and rigid support for the gable, and preventing any possibility of its springing in or out. The toes of the rafters It fall short of the outer faces of the wall-plates I? an inch or more, allowing the plaster to extend from the face of the wall around the upper corner of the plate for its en tire length. The plaster extends between the rafters as far as the inside face of the wall, so that the plaster is united around the wall-plate. This is of great importance in preventing the communication of fire from the roof to the body of the building. At the ends or sides of the building I make a crib or cross-frame work, F, with open spaces varying from one to three or four inches square, by letting strips, generally one inch square, pass back. to the inner side of the wall between the boards, and project outwardly a sufficient distance to form a cornice or similar construction for ornament, as well as to afford a base and support for a water-gutter, G. Around this frame-work are placed molds of any desired pattern, which, the inner sides of the walls beingplastered, are filled with a composition or grouting of cement, H, which is shaped by the molds so as to form uniformly scrolls, braces, brackets, or other ornamental work. In the top of this projecting cornice a trough is formed by means of a cylindrical core, so secured that the grouting will not float or disturb it until the composition has becomehard and set. Molds with elbows, as shown in Fig. 5, are employed for forming the cornice and gutters at the corners ofthe building. I also make neat and substantial quoins I at the corners of the building by the use of similar molds, Fig. 4, into which a similar composition is poured, after the inner walls have been plastered, and forming a dam to prevent the composition from flowing along the horizontal spaces beyond its proper limit, thus producing a quoin of any pattern, or imitation of such stones as the fancy may desire or wish, and in the interstices between the boards, and over all the woodwork composing the body of the building, is spread composition plaster H, made of durable and ornamental material, to imitate any style of material used in building. The doors and windows will be cut out after the walls arehigh enough, making the width as the walls go up, and putting in the blocks or parting-strips, 4

sented and described, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the joists D, strips (1, and boards B, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the flooring L, joists D, and boards B, all connected together as and for the purpose specified.

4. The open crib-work or framing F G of the cornice and gutter, constructed as described, and

adapted for securing the composition or grouting, applied by means of a suitable mold, to complete said cornice and gutter.

5. The girder E, in combination with the wallpl ate 1?, ridge-pole M, and gable B, substantially as described.

THOS. W. H. MOSELEY.

Witnesses:

J OI-IN 1VIULFORD, (inns. A. KEASBEY. 

